1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates in general to containers for temporarily storing fishing rods and in particular to a transparent cylindrical container for managing fly line during and between casts.
2. Descripition of Prior Developments
When casting fishing line and particularly when casting a fly line, an angler strips line from a reel and typically allows the line to fall to the ground or into the water. Tangled line often results. Conditions are made worse by the presence of a blowing wind which promotes line tangling. Moreover, weeds, grass, rocks, stumps, branches, boat cleats and the like can cause line tangling. Line frequently gets caught under or on an angler's feet.
Line soiling from dirt, dust, or any fine particulate matter can decrease casting distance and accuracy due to the drag on the line caused by increased friction from the dirt. This friction also increases in proportion to the distance the fly line is from the rod when a cast is made. The closer the stripped line is to an angler, the less line drag results thereby allowing a farther cast.
Attempts to relieve such problems include the use of a basket worn around an angler's waist to receive stripped line. While such a basket attempts to improve fly line control, it exhibits certain drawbacks. Because it is designed to be worn on the body of an angler, it becomes an encumbrance. The need to vary line stripping motion is hampered by a relatively cramped tight space within the basket into which the stripped line is directed. This arrangement does not readily receive the stripped line.
Moreover, a varied line stripping motion is often desirable to entice a fish to strike a cast fly. Such variable stripping motion is not conducive to easy placement of the line into a waist-mounted basket. When a long line stripping motion is used, it becomes difficult if not mechanically impossible to properly place a long length of stripped line into the basket. Since a long strip action is often required to set the hook when a fish strikes, the basket may actually distract an angler at this critical point by failing to receive the stripped line.
Although waist mounted baskets work well if an angler is wading in wavy water, the basket does not provide much protection against blowing winds which tend to blow the line all about. Such baskets also cannot provide a resting place for a fly rod or provide storage for the rod and line when moving from place to place.
Fly rods are fragile and are prone to damage when landing a big fish. In this case, if an angler lifts the rod too high and places a high load on the rod tip, the tip can break. Prior line holding arrangements provide no solution to this problem.
Accordingly, a need exists for a method and apparatus which provides a virtually tangle free cast, which protects the line from excessive dirt and wind, which has the potential to clean the line during casting, and which provides a support for a fly rod as an angler lands a fish.